What Elena spoke about.

Mr President, Commissioner, we need health care and we need health care. The shortage of 1.2 million professionals is a drama, especially in rural areas, with a shortage that puts the fairness and right to health of European citizens at risk. In my region, Extremadura, after more than thirty years of socialist and leftist governments, there is a real medical desert: patients who need to travel for healthcare; doctors, nurses and other professionals who work in a strenuous manner. This situation, which is currently being reversed, must be remedied. There are very desired places, but there are places that are deserted and, therefore, it is urgent to create a stable framework of decent work for these professionals, better conditions, especially for the so-called places of difficult coverage, and that the right to stay can be exercised. The shortage ends up causing endless waiting lists, aggressions against unjustified professionals. And that is why I am glad that the Commission is finally tackling this problem, that it is on the agenda and that it is going to be on the agenda now. We must ensure that, wherever we live, we receive attention and, for this, we cannot take lightly the present needs of professionals, but, above all, neither those of the future.

Mr President, Commissioner, I am very happy to hear your proposals, because Europe's underlying problem is demographic and hence the rest. We can no longer look the other way in the face of falling birth rates and aging rates. How can we expect more innovation or greater competitiveness if we ignore that Europe has been dying from its base for decades and forgetting young people? In more than 64% of the municipalities in my region, Extremadura, one in four inhabitants is 65 or older and, in Spain, the vegetative balance has been negative since 2015. I ask from this rostrum to urgently assist all the regions devastated by this demographic disaster, including the demographic variable – as the Commissioner has said – and territorial in European agendas and programmes. But to reverse this, it is necessary to invest in dual digital and transport connectivity, access to essential public services, cross-border cooperation and, of course, support for families, fathers and mothers. Reality requires, Commissioner, imminent action.

Mr. President, despite his resounding and obvious defeat at the polls, Maduro has proclaimed himself president of Venezuela. The dictatorship oppresses its opponents, although they are an example of the struggle for freedom, like the heroine María Corina Machado, who does not need our congratulations, but our action. The international community has not stood idly by: The European Union has added 15 Venezuelan officials and senior officials to its list of restrictive measures for its blow to democracy. But this is not enough; We have to do more. The European Union must recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as the elected president of Venezuela and, if it has not been done before, it is because it has not stood up to countries like mine, which give oxygen to a dictator like Maduro. Therefore, from this rostrum I tell Mr. Sanchez to reconsider, to put himself on the right side of history. It's not opposition, it's telling the truth. Don't shut us up, because that's what Maduro does.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, Spain, Portugal, France with its island of Mayotte: disasters in which Europe needs to articulate mechanisms for an imminent response. And it has to do so in the face of the irresponsibility of governments such as Spain, which is unable to execute works from its budget that would have avoided much pain and many deaths in our country. Because there are governments that only care about their pacts to stay in the armchair and not the victims, like those who have suffered in Valencia due to the inaction of their government. Perhaps the important thing is to create a specific fund and not to pull the tailor's box that is being cohesion policy in Europe. All our support for the victims of these disasters. And, in the face of Euroscepticism, what we say from the People's Party is that Europe is more necessary than ever.

Mr President, cancer is a scourge that we must eradicate. It is the second leading cause of death in the European Union and every year 2.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer and 1.2 million die from it. The People's Group is strongly committed to Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. And the goal of achieving less than 5% of the population using tobacco by 2040 is a priority for us. What is also imperative is to launch the creation of the European Cancer Fund to ensure early diagnosis and detection, to finance the development of and access to innovative therapies, and to avoid inequalities between countries in obtaining new treatments, as well as to promote scientific research. Last legislature put in place the pillars of the European Health Union and it is time to implement it. But scientific research is fundamental for us as co-legislators. When it comes to legislation, every law has to be based on a strong empirical basis that allows us to protect all our citizens.

Madam President, I would like to focus exclusively on the victims. The Poyo ravine overflowed and caused the largest flooding in Valencia. "Neighbors point to the Poyo ravine as the main responsible for the flood" (end of quote). I am proud to be Spanish and I am proud to be European, because it is Europe that has the answer to these catastrophes. Cohesion policy must respond to the reconstruction following these phenomena, which are happening today in our country and may happen tomorrow in any of the 27 other Member States. But let's not forget that it's about rebuilding not just infrastructure, but broken lives. The lives of hundreds and thousands of people who have lost everything. It's Europe's time. It is time for a Europe of solidarity.

Mr President, as Robert Schuman said: “I am a European; I wish, however, to remain French, and, in France, Lorraine is my little homeland. Cities and regions were always on the minds of the people who started the European project. I have been mayor of my city, Cáceres, and I can see the enormous impact that European funds have had on local development and the way in which multilevel governance and partnership between administrations have been key to respecting the particularities of each community from the most basic level. As an Extremaduran, as a Spaniard, as a European, I firmly believe in the role of cities and regions: is essential. The principle of subsidiarity was introduced to define the role that each institution should play in the service of the common good within a framework of common respect. Mere efficiency cannot justify any transfer of what local and regional communities can do on their own: To break with this principle is to break with the very principle of the Union, with the social and territorial cohesion pursued by the Treaties. Europe is the result of a cultural and historical community whose roots sink in every city, in every village, in every region. Without cities there are no citizens and, therefore, any European policy must always be carried out with respect for the local and regional perspective: the Commission must not forget this.

Mr President, Commissioner, listen to me: 1% of deaths in the European Union occur by suicide. We speak, according to the European Statistical Office, of 47 000 deaths per year. One hundred and thirty citizens of the European Union will have lost their lives today while I speak to them. In Spain, 41% of adolescents – I repeat, 41% – report having had mental health problems. What's worse: One in three hadn't spoken to anyone. It is urgent to break the stigma as Europeans and normalize the call for help. We are talking about an invisible pandemic and, therefore, it is necessary to advocate for mental health and make risk factors visible. From the People's Party, we are going to ask the future Commissioner for Health to prioritize a European action plan for mental health and less demagoguery from the left. The time is now. The time is now. Let's do it for our children and for all Europeans: for those who are not there, but for those we can save tomorrow.